French envoy to visit region to lay groundwork for peace confab

France’s special envoy for its peace initiative to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will meet this week with officials in Ramallah and Tel Aviv, the Palestinian envoy to France said Saturday.

Ambassador Salman al-Harfi confirmed to the Palestinian Ma’an news outlet that Pierre Vimont will meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss preparations for an international peace summit to renew stalled peace talks.

The summit is scheduled to take place in June or July, despite Israeli complaints that peace negotiations should take the form of direct talks.

Before visiting the region, Vimont will attend the The 5th Extraordinary Islamic Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds (Jerusalem), which begins in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Sunday.

The summit, entitled “Uniting for a Just and Lasting Solution,” will also be attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

During his trip, the special envoy will also meet with Arab and international officials to discuss the framework for a meeting that will take place next April to set the agenda for the conference.

The April meeting is for an international support group composed of world powers US, Russia, China, France and the UK, as well the “Arab quartet,” Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt. Additionally, Brazil, Japan, Germany, South Africa and India will also attend the support meeting. Neither Israeli or Palestinian officials will attend the meeting in April.

Harfi stressed that Israel had not yet confirmed its official stance on the conference, but that high international support will see the initiative move forward regardless of Jerusalem’s position, according to Ma’an.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for a comment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier dismissed France’s proposal. He said an ultimatum issued by Paris that it would recognize a Palestinian state if talks fail was “mystifying” and counterproductive, arguing that it gave Palestinians no incentive to compromise.

Jerusalem has also maintained that direct talks are needed to reach an agreement.

In January, then French foreign minister Laurent Fabius announced plans by Paris for an international conference to “bring about the two-state solution” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hamas rejected the French proposal last Wednesday.

“The initiative is a bid to stop the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada and cancel the Palestinian rights in Jerusalem and the right of return,” said a statement from the lslamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s statement followed remarks by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last Tuesday, who voiced hope that the French initiative could lead to a solution reminiscent of the breakthrough talks on Iran’s nuclear deal.